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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 0:52:24 GMT -5
I'm really panicking as I have no way to get to a vet right now. My husband is offshore and I am an hour from the city.
Floki has just thrown up, three times in the past 15 minutes (this long apart, too). It is brown, looks like his food but wet, there's some chunks in it. His stool all day seemed fine, but he just had a tiny poop between throwing up that was water-y - diarrhea? The vomit seems to be a few times the size of a 'normal' poop. He is currently very sleepy, sleeping in places he doesn't usually and he won't let me near him when he starts to retch. He seems very tired - and in fact, was seeming very tired yesterday, we thought he was just thirsty.
He's not been very personable the past 2 days, but was VERY friendly the 2 before that. My husband was caring for him while I was out earlier (we were both out for 2 hours before that) and said he wasn't friendly/didn't want to cuddle etc. At the time we just put it down to him not liking it when my husband goes away for work.
What should I do? Should I panic? What should I watch out for? I don't plan to sleep tonight, or at least until he's gone an hour or two more without throwing up. Should I take his food away? He drank after throwing up the first time.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 0:55:08 GMT -5
We opened a new bag of food yesterday, his usual - could it have gone off?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 1:04:08 GMT -5
Please do not panic. It does sound like quite a panicking moment, but try your best to keep your mind clear. If you panic, he will sense that and that may cause him to panic. Throwing up is not a good sign. Firstly, what are you feeding?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 1:04:40 GMT -5
His behaviour seems otherwise normal. Investigating things, wanting to get at the food I took away from him, itching and not sitting still. Just 1/2 an hour before this he was asleep on my lap!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 1:05:13 GMT -5
Please do not panic. It does sound like quite a panicking moment, but try your best to keep your mind clear. If you panic, he will sense that and that may cause him to panic. Throwing up is not a good sign. Firstly, what are you feeding? Living World Extrustion for Ferrets. It's the same food he always has.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 1:10:12 GMT -5
Ah, Okay. So a kibble brand, is this a new kibble to him? It may be a reaction to something in the kibble. This is not a very good brand by the way.
How is he now? Is he alert? Lethargic? Any signs of pain? Anything else that seems abnormal? It may be a good idea to monitor him, or even call a vet (if open, or an emergency vet) just incase.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 1:11:01 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 1:14:10 GMT -5
Ah, Okay. So a kibble brand, is this a new kibble to him? It may be a reaction to something in the kibble. This is not a very good brand by the way. How is he now? Is he alert? Lethargic? Any signs of pain? Anything else that seems abnormal? It may be a good idea to monitor him, or even call a vet (if open, or an emergency vet) just incase. 1. It's the same kibble we have given him since we got him a few months ago. New bag, though, only opened this bag 2 days ago. 2. He's gone to sleep, but that is normal at this time of night. He was busying around me for past 10 mins when I woke him up to clean his cage, sniffing at the litter box, trying to climb onto the box on the floor and wanted into the dirty puppy pad. He had a little bit to drink, then went to his cubby hole on the other side of the room. 3. He doesn't seem to be in pain, but he was whimpering after throwing up. (Then again, throwing up is no fun at all. He threw up, then went very still and put his head on his paws and hid from me. It was a lot like in this post elsewhere: www.ferretuniverse.com/discus/messages/1263/33259.html?1178294120)4. Nothing else seems abnormal? He's slept a lot the past few days but he's always a sleepy ferret. He was sulky about a lot of things the past 2 days, didn't want to cuddle with me and my fiance but he has moods like that so we didn't think anything of it. 5. I called a 24 hour vet and she said to watch him and to bring him in if I thought it got worse. This was immediately after he threw up the first time.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 1:15:44 GMT -5
Did you mix kibble with water by any chance? Sometimes this may cause a stomach upset, which may result in the loose poop.
Was he eating during the time he threw up? Eating too fast may also cause ferrets to bring up their food. So if it is chunky, then maybe its a good chance that this was the case.
Once the food is in their stomach, it is very hard for them to vomit, so when they do vomit it may be serious business. Vomiting can be a severe symptom of various thing, and usually would require a vet to check the ferret out.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 1:18:57 GMT -5
Did you mix kibble with water by any chance? Sometimes this may cause a stomach upset, which may result in the loose poop. Was he eating during the time he threw up? Eating too fast may also cause ferrets to bring up their food. So if it is chunky, then maybe its a good chance that this was the case. Once the food is in their stomach, it is very hard for them to vomit, so when they do vomit it may be serious business. Vomiting can be a severe symptom of various thing, and usually would require a vet to check the ferret out. What he threw up looked like wet kibble and he sometimes gets his water bottle in his food, could that have been it? I'm not sure if he was eating, but he was in his cage a little bit before that, so it could also have been that. I'm pretty certain there's nothing on the floor he could have eaten; besides, he doesn't chew things and always takes 'no!' for an answer if he snuffles around our food. He's sleeping now and hasn't thrown up for a while.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 1:20:39 GMT -5
Ah, Okay. So a kibble brand, is this a new kibble to him? It may be a reaction to something in the kibble. This is not a very good brand by the way. How is he now? Is he alert? Lethargic? Any signs of pain? Anything else that seems abnormal? It may be a good idea to monitor him, or even call a vet (if open, or an emergency vet) just incase. 1. It's the same kibble we have given him since we got him a few months ago. New bag, though, only opened this bag 2 days ago. 2. He's gone to sleep, but that is normal at this time of night. He was busying around me for past 10 mins when I woke him up to clean his cage, sniffing at the litter box, trying to climb onto the box on the floor and wanted into the dirty puppy pad. He had a little bit to drink, then went to his cubby hole on the other side of the room. 3. He doesn't seem to be in pain, but he was whimpering after throwing up. (Then again, throwing up is no fun at all. He threw up, then went very still and put his head on his paws and hid from me. It was a lot like in this post elsewhere: www.ferretuniverse.com/discus/messages/1263/33259.html?1178294120)4. Nothing else seems abnormal? He's slept a lot the past few days but he's always a sleepy ferret. He was sulky about a lot of things the past 2 days, didn't want to cuddle with me and my fiance but he has moods like that so we didn't think anything of it. 5. I called a 24 hour vet and she said to watch him and to bring him in if I thought it got worse. This was immediately after he threw up the first time. Okay, so he's eaten from this specific bag before? I'm assuming since you opened it a couple of days ago. I agree with the vet, it would be a good idea just to monitor him closely for a bit. Throwing up is never a comfortable thing, which would explain the whimpering.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 1:22:39 GMT -5
The fact that he hasn't thrown up for a while is a good sign. Usually if it were a blockage, you would see other symptoms. Just to be safe, watch him next time he eats or poops to ensure he's alright in those areas.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 1:24:19 GMT -5
It's 2am. I'll stay up at least another hour to make sure he doesn't throw up again - would you recommend longer, or should this be long enough to see if it's something serious?
My dad used to raise guinea pigs and suggested giving him a SMALL dose of food and water in his cage tonight when I go to bed. Is this the right thing to do or should I keep him away from food? He sleeps in the same room as me - I don't know if him retching would wake me up but maybe I could set an alarm to check on him hourly...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 1:29:12 GMT -5
He just woke up and started to itch. Wandered into his cage, wandered to the door, then wandered back towards his bed, itching all the way. This is def. normal behaviour for him... so, that's a good sign, right? He look at me when I 'clucked' on him but ignored me and did his own thing, which is also normal. Now he's climbing back into his favourite sleeping spot...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 1:33:05 GMT -5
It does sound like he's acting normal and yes, that is a great sign. Since he's in the same room as you, staying up may not be entirely necessary you could set an alarm if you like and check up on him. Keeping his food and water in with him should be fine.
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